Number Six: Freedom is Bittersweet
by Celeste Russo
Summary: Based on Number Six's escape from the Mogodorians. This is not part of Pittacus Lore's series. I have taken characters from the series but have written my own version of Six's escape.


They caught me and my Cepân Katarina in New York about a year ago. They didn't know what Number I was; they just knew I was one of the Lorien nine; one of the nine warriors the Elders had chosen to protect our races existence and our planet Lorien, along with Earth as well. They have to kill us in order because the Loric charm prevents them from killing us any other way. They've killed Numbers One, Two and Three already. Number Four is next.

"What number are you?" the Mogodorian soldier growled. There were two of them. One had a knife held up to my throat, the other the same to Katarina. We were chained by manacles to the wall. He couldn't kill me yet. If they tried, it would end badly for them.

"Number Eight." I said.

I lied. I was Number Six.

The Mogodorian bared his teeth at me, flaring those disgusting gills in his face that he used to breathe. The feral bastards. He presses the knife closer to my throat. I can feel the cold of the blade against the skin of my neck.

"Don't lie, Number girl. It could end terribly for you and your Cepân." A terrible grin crosses his face and the other Mogodorian presses his knife closer to Katarina's throat, a thin red line appearing where the blade touched. I struggle against my manacles and scream at them at the sight of it.

"Get your feral face away from her, you asshole! Leave her alone! I'll kill you once I break out of here!"

The Mogodorian chuckles at my bravery. "Let's try this again, shall we? What number are you?"

I narrow my eyes at him. "Number Eight." I say again.

"I'm losing all patience with you, girl." He says as he points his dagger at me. I stare back at him with a deadly expression. "Next question, then. Do you know where Number Four is?"

My expression doesn't change. "I don't know where Number Four is." I say, my voice void of any kind of emotion. He was clearly getting irritated now. His interrogation wasn't exactly going as he planned. I refused to co-operate.

"Listen here, girl. You either co-operate with us, or you can die. It's your choice."

I look from the Mogodorian to Katarina, who was staring back at me, trying to tell me something with her eyes. _Don't tell them anything_, is what she would have said. I look back at the Mogodorian, my eyes narrowed, glaring at him.

"I'd rather die." I spit the words at him. I knew he couldn't kill me out of number order. The Loric charm the Elders put on us prevented that. But it couldn't prevent what happened next.

The second Mogodorian raised his dagger and stabbed Katarina in the chest, the blade piercing exactly where her heart was. She released the most terrifying blood curdling scream and he pulled the blade back out, letting her fall limp from her manacles, covered in blood. I was too terrified and shocked from what I had just witnessed to even scream.

"You're next, girl." The Mogodorian said and thrust his dagger towards my stomach, only to scream himself. The blade didn't even scratch me. Instead, his attack on me caused the large gash that should have been in my stomach to appear on him. It was the work of the Loric charm that kept them from killing us out of order. If he tried to harm me, it would cause him to harm himself.

The Mogodorian fell to the ground wailing, then burst into ashes. Before the other Mogodorian could react to what happened, I used my telekinesis to raise the dagger and send it into his heart, making him collapse to the floor in a pile of ash as well.

In that moment, I realised I was the only breathing person in the room.

The alarm hadn't been raised that there had been an attack on the two Mogodorian soldiers; I knew I had to take advantage of it, but had to first figure out a way to break free from the chains around my wrists.

I look around the room, taking in every object I could see. _Think Six, think. What can you use here?_ There was nothing useful in the room. The closest thing I could find was a blow torch, but that would heat up the metal and burn my flesh. Yes, it would melt the metal, but it would melt my wrists to the bone in the process. I look back at the ashes of the once alive and breathing Mogodorians and see the dagger lying next to them. This might be my only way of escape.

I lean forward as much as I can, stretching the chain out to its full length, tightening it. I use my telekinesis and bring the dagger towards me, holding it above the chains. Once it's lined up, I bring the dagger down as fast as possible with all the strength I can use with the telekinesis. The chains shatter and I feel an instant sense of freedom wash over me.

I look over at Katarina's lifeless body and break her chains as well. I didn't want to leave her here, but there was no point in me carrying dead weight if I wanted to get out of here alive. I kiss her forehead and thank her for protecting me, and I run out of the room, heading for the only exit in this damned hell hole. Two thoughts were the only things keeping me going apart from adrenaline: To get the hell out of here, and a need to kick every Mogodorian ass in existence. I wanted revenge; revenge for Katarina, my family, the other Numbers, for Lorien, for Earth, for me.

And the Mogs were going to pay.


End file.
